Top-10 foes collide in Big 12 showdown

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/08/2012 - Waco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ferrell Center is the venue for a top-10 showdown for the second time in less than a month, as the sixth-ranked Baylor Bears play host to the seventh-ranked Kansas Jayhawks in a crucial Big 12 battle this evening in Waco.

These two teams are tied for second place in the Big 12 standings at 8-2, just a half game behind league-leading Missouri (9-2). This marks the 20th all-time meeting in a series that has been dominated by Kansas, 17-2. The Jayhawks have won each of the last three meetings and are seeking the regular season sweep after posting an impressive 92-74 rout over Baylor in Lawrence back on January 16th.

Bill Self's Jayhawks have proved to be unbeatable at home this season thus far (12-0), but the road has been a different story, as Kansas is 6-5 when not at the Allen Fieldhouse. The team has dropped two of its last three games, with setbacks at Iowa State (72-64) and most recently, at Missouri (74-71).

Scott Drew's Bears are 11-1 at home, with the lone loss at the Ferrell Center coming on January 21st to then fifth-ranked Missouri (89-88). Since then, Baylor has won four straight games, including last weekend's 64-60 victory at Oklahoma State.

Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor did what they do best, but a combined 46 points between them still wasn't enough in a three-point setback to Missouri in Columbia this past weekend. Robinson once again did his damage down low, finishing with his 16th double-double of the season, posting 25 points and 13 rebounds. Taylor poured in 21 points, but the two also combined for 11 of the team's 15 turnovers. Elijah Johnson added 11 points for Kansas, which despite shooting 53.6 percent from the floor, was unable to earn the win.

Robinson's name is certainly on everyone's short list when it comes to potential National Player of the Year nominees. The 6-10 junior power forward is converting nearly 55 percent of his shots this year, leading the Jayhawks in scoring (18.0 ppg) and the Big 12 in rebounding (12.0 rpg). Taylor is both a prolific scorer (16.9 ppg) and deft distributor (5.2 apg) and can really extend defenses, preventing them from collapsing down on Robinson, as he is shooting a healthy .440 from behind the arc (37-of-84). Travis Releford (9.6 ppg), Johnson (9.2 ppg) and Jeff Withey (8.1 ppg) round out the starting five. The Jayhawks have played well at both ends of the floor and enjoy a solid +14.1 scoring margin as a result.

The Bears are similar in their offensive approach, as they can score both inside and out as well. Baylor may have a bit more depth however, with a strong frontcourt trio, as well as a balanced backcourt. Forward Perry Jones III leads the team in scoring (14.8 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg), converting just over 55 percent from the floor. Fellow forwards Quincy Acy (12.4 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and Quincy Miller (12.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg) add depth up front. Point guard Pierre Jackson (12.7 ppg, 5.9 apg) is charged with running the offense and has the ability to both distribute and find his own shot. Fellow guard Brady Heslip (9.6 ppg) gives the team a second long range threat, as he and Jackson has combined for 101 of the team's 166 three-pointers to date.

Baylor displayed its strong defensive skills in the win over Oklahoma State this past weekend, holding the hometown Cowboys to just 40 percent from the floor and outrebounding OSU 39-29. In addition, BU was able to score 22 points off of 14 Oklahoma State turnovers. Jones and Acy both recorded double-doubles in the win, as Jones finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Acy posted 11 points and 12 boards. Jackson tied for team-high in scoring with 16 points of his own.

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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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